


Just what brothers are for

by Karma_bug



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Bedside Vigils, Fluff, Ford just wants him to be safe, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Stan O' War II, Stan's a softie, near-drowning, platonic brotherly love, platonic hugs, post Episode s2 e20 weirdmaggedon take back the falls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 20:51:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14818629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karma_bug/pseuds/Karma_bug
Summary: After Stan falls overboard in the arctic ocean, Ford has to get him warmed up - quick.





	Just what brothers are for

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you people are happy I chose writing this over sleep.

Stanley breathed in and out, sighing into the cold air. His breath was visible in the cold of the arctic, where their boat currently drifted in, a peaceful rocking ever present. It was relaxing, despite the freezing temperatures, just taking in the views of the ocean. It reminded Stan of the days when Ford and him would work on the original Stan o’ war, gazing out into the warm sea. Stan wasn’t wearing many layers, aside from his coat and beanie, but the cold didn’t seem to phase him. It was liberating, in fact, a welcome relief from the stuffy cabin he and Ford had been cooped up in for the night. Ford was still inside, likely working on an experiment or similar.

Stan smiled as he stared into the dark, ice filled waters, gazing into his reflection.  _ Man, had they both gotten old. _ He chuckled quietly at the thought, returning his gaze onto the horizon. Nothing but ice and water for miles, their boat being the only break in the pattern. The isolation would have been maddening if they didn’t have each other. But they did. They were together, they were living their dreams, they were  _ happy.  _ Finally, finally happy.

Stan’s thoughts were interrupted by bubbling in the water next to the boat. It seemed like something was under the water, but it was too deep and murky to make out. Stan squinted through his glasses, leaning himself over the railing, trying to make out the source of the distraction.

As he lifted a leg to get closer to the water, the boat took a sharp dip, knocking Stan off of his balance and into the dark waters. A yelp of surprise escaped his lips as his body flipped over the rails, followed by a splash. At first, he felt nothing, like he was floating in a void. The feeling of peace was short-lived as his senses caught up to him, his mind kicking into action. It was cold,  _ cold cold cold toocoldtoocold! _

He quickly realized he was submerged, urgently propelling himself upwards. He gasped once he hit the surface, desperately clawing and kicking at the water in a weak attempt to keep himself up. He tried to call out to his brother, his cry for help cut short by water flowing into his mouth. He spit and gasped, struggling to keep himself above the water.

Thankfully, he was close enough to the boat to grab onto the net kept on the side, fingers clinging to dear life at the rope. At least now he could breathe, but it was still cold  _ cold coldcold! _ He didn’t have the strength to pull himself upwards, and could only hope Ford would find him in time.

 

0000000000

 

Ford was sitting at the makeshift desk kept near the kitchen, gingerly sipping at coffee as he worked. Currently, he was mapping out a course for the next few days, shifting between his anomaly tracker and the map spread across the desk. The map marked different currents, sightings of anomalies, and other such things to be wary of.

As he worked, he heard a small splash outside, but didn’t give it much thought. Many different animals such as narwhals would break the surface and re-submerge, causing the noise. He sipped again at the bitter liquid, inhaling the steam radiating off of the mug with a quiet sigh.

A few minutes of sketching across the yellowing map passed, and Ford was nearly finished with the course. He wanted Stanley’s opinion, and was about to call for him, when it hit him-

Stanley was up on deck.

_ Alone. _

_ Oh god, how long ago was the splash? You took too long, why didn’t you check? Now Stanley could be hurt, or worse-  _ Stanford scrambled to his feet quick as possible, practically throwing himself out the door. “Stanley?!” He called out. His heart skipped a beat when there was no answer.

Stanford grabbed onto the railing, scanning the water while calling out his brothers name. “Stanley! Stanley, where are you!?” He seemed to circle the entire boat before catching sight of Stanley, a wave of relief hitting him as he saw Stanley was  _ alive. _

The relief was cut short as his mind snapped back into action. Stanley was clinging to the net on the side of the Stan o’ war with numb fingers, more than half of his body still under the water. He was shaking violently,  _ thank the stars.  _ His eyes were unfocused and panicked, glazing over as he struggled to keep himself above the water.

Stanford quickly pulled up the rope, bringing Stanley with it. He grabbed Stan by the shoulders, looking him in the eyes. Stan looked so  _ exhausted _ . “Stanley, are you okay?” Stan was shaking too hard to respond, prompting Ford to quickly lead him inside. Stan tried to get up but collapsed, his legs shaking like jello. Ford took Stan’s arm and slung it over his shoulder, quickly leading him to the cabin.

As fast as possible, Ford gathered a change of clothes for Stan. He practically threw Stan’s wet clothes off, having to do most of the work as Stan was too exhausted to move much. He quickly put the warmest clothes he could find onto Stan, who seemed to be shivering even more violently at this point.

Taking Stan’s arm again, he led him to his bunk, and put him under the covers. Ford was concerned at how lethargic Stan was, hardly having the strength to move his own arms. Ford stripped the duvet off of his bunk and put it over Stanley, who could hardly keep his eyes open.

Barely two minutes had passed since Stan was put into his bed, yet he was about to pass out. He wanted to thank Ford, but he was so weak, and so  _ cold, _ he couldn’t muster up the strength. So, he shut his eyes, and drifted off into darkness.

 

000000000000

 

Several hours had passed before Stan had started to stir, prompting Ford to keep a closer eye on him. Slowly but surely, he pried his eyes open and sat up slightly, groaning. He was still shivering quite a bit, though not nearly as bad as before. Stan was about to open his mouth when Ford chimed in.

“Stanley! You’re awake!” The sound of relief in Ford’s voice confused Stan. What had even happened?

“Mm, yeah, sure am. Mind t-tellin’ me what’s going o-on?” The words stuttered groggily past his tongue, shaking still present in his body.

“I don’t quite know myself, Lee. I found you in the water clinging to the side of the boat, and brought you in. What were you even doing, Stan? You scared me half to death!”

Oh. That.

“Ugh, I-I don’ really remember. I think I saw s-somethin’? Not s-sure.” Stan groaned in a shiver, burying himself further into the blankets. Ford sighed and shook his head.

“I’ll be right back.” Ford walked into the kitchen, grabbing a mug and a kettle of water that had been left out. Quickly reheating the water, he poured cocoa powder and water into the mug, and brought it back to Stanley, who seemed to be nodding off again.

“Wake up, knucklehead,” Ford lightly smiled as he nudged Stan in the side, rousing him from his sleep. Stan muttered a small ‘thanks’ as he took the mug, lazily sipping from it. The warm liquid was a pleasant relief, helping to calm the shaking the wracked his body. He took a long, drawn out drink as Ford talked.

“Don’t you scare me like that again, Stan.” Ford said as he looked deeply into Stan’s eyes. Stan just smiled in return.

“I’ll try n-not to, but no promises, s-sixer.” He grinned, to which Ford rolled his eyes, though he couldn’t keep a small smile off of his own face.

“Don’t get too reckless, or I might not save you next time.” Ford realized that may have been the wrong thing to say, as Stan’s playful grin turned into a shameful frown. He was going to correct himself when Stan spoke up.

“Thanks, Ford,” He looked up and smiled a bit, still fatigued from his earlier struggle. “Thanks for e-everything, ya’ nerd.” Ford couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

“That’s what brothers are for, you dork.” He moved to Stan’s side and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, to which Stan leaned into. Ford smiled and sat in Stan’s bed, giving him warmth and comfort. He nearly missed a soft voice from Stan, but was so glad he didn’t.

“I love ya’, Ford.”

“I love you too, Stanley.”

Stanley drifted back to sleep, lying in the arms of one of the most important people in the world to him. Next to his brother, he smiled in his sleep.

When later questioned, Stan denied any of it ever happened.

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Leave reviews to warm Stan up.


End file.
